Steve Theriot expected 'to get us back on track' as interim Jefferson Parish president

Susan Poag/The Times-PicayuneSteve Theriot, right, takes his seat as interim Jefferson Parish president after being sworn in Wednesday. At far left is Jefferson Parish Attorney Tom Wilkinson.

Punctuating a tumultuous period for its scandal-wracked government, the Jefferson Parish Council appointed former state legislative auditor Steve Theriot as interim parish president Wednesday to replace Aaron Broussard, who resigned Friday amid a federal criminal investigation of his administration and a former top aide, Tim Whitmer.

The council backed Theriot 6-0, with Council Chairman John Young abstaining.

Young criticized the fast-track selection process, saying the council should have taken applications and involved the public.

About a dozen people in the packed council chambers in the General Government Building in Gretna held signs saying, "We want transparency, not secret deals."

Six of the seven council members had pledged their support for Theriot at a Monday morning news conference following a series of weekend calls between council members and Theriot.

Theriot, 63, said he has asked the legislative auditor's office to review all parish contracts, paying particular attention to big-ticket deals paid for by FEMA and the federal economic stimulus package.

Fallout from the Whitmer controversy also trickled through other parts of the council's agenda Wednesday, when it indefinitely deferred action on two contracts with companies reported to use insurance services from Lagniappe Industries.

Officials are reviewing how to proceed with those contracts, whether they must be rebid or not, which might vary depending on the details of each case. The council approved a resolution by Young to query every parish vendor asking if they do any business with Lagniappe. And Roberts said the parish plans to have the legislative auditor review every parish contract.

"We need a full and complete disclosure," Young said. "You can't single out six people if there are 25 others."

The council started by deferring a one-year extension to a contract for up to $200,000 with Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects involving renovations at the Joseph S. Yenni Building in Elmwood and other work around the parish. It also deferred raising by $1.2 million the spending cap on a contract with Fleming Construction Co. to repair and replace water meters.

It approved another Fleming contract for $262,000 to repair streets damaged after Hurricane Katrina because Fleming submitted the lowest responsible bid and had to be accepted under the bidding rules, Young said. He said the council doesn't currently have strong enough grounds to reject the low bid.

Problematic process

Earlier in the meeting, a half-dozen people ripped the interim president selection process in comments to the council, with some saying the series of calls preceding Monday's announcement about Theriot's pending appointment had violated the state's open meetings law.

"The haste and the secret process by which these six council members selected this president is exactly what is wrong with Jefferson Parish," said Margie Seeman, vice chairwoman of Citizens for Good Government. "We want the president to be chosen through a deliberate, open process, not by a backroom deal."

Chairman Young, who also sought public involvement, said he met with Theriot Monday afternoon. Acknowledging that Theriot has "some sterling credentials" and might be the best person for the job, Young said the selection process should have been more transparent in the wake of the Whitmer scandal.

"Based upon what's happened over the last 2 ½ months, we should have had a more open and thorough process with public input," he said.

Kenner resident Richard Brown cited a 1999 opinion issued by former Attorney General Richard Ieyoub that a telephone poll by a public body or a series of calls involving a majority of its members to discuss an issue constitutes an illegal closed meeting.

"This process stinks," he said. "We want it to be open."

Phone calls defended

Councilman Louis Congemi said he does not think the one-on-one phone calls violated the open meetings law.

"I can guarantee you there was no conference call or quorum," he said. "There is no legislative body in this country where you are prohibited from making a phone call to other members."

He also noted that the council had been accused of dragging its feet in taking action to oust Whitmer, who resigned two days before the council had scheduled a termination hearing.

"People said we were too slow on the Whitmer investigation. Now we're being criticized for going too fast," Congemi said. "Where is the middle ground? I don't understand it."

Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng said it was imperative for the council to move quickly to fill a leadership vacuum after the parish's top two executives resigned within a week.

"It is my belief that our main duty now as a council is to provide stability during this difficult time," she said. "The people will elect their new parish president in October."

The council set an Oct. 2 primary to elect a permanent replacement to fill the remainder of Broussard's term, which runs through the end of 2011. Theriot, who retired in November after 5 1/2 years as legislative auditor, is barred by the Parish Charter from running in that election.